Shedworking

Research from Dunster House suggests that keeping sheds as storage areas is no longer the most popular way of using them - more than half of the people surveyed said they use their shed as a dedicated hobby space or relaxing hideaway. Second most popular was using the shed for storage which 43% of respondents did, with a remaining 4% favouring sheds for their aesthetics i.e. the perfect addition to an attractive back garden. “We all know that sheds have a practical use," said Alex Murphy, Managing Director at Dunster House, "but we hadn’t realised so many people were using them as a bolt hole from the stresses and strain of their everyday lives, either to grab a bit of peace and quiet, or to relax and enjoy their favourite hobbies.

Tiny Home BuildersI was introduced to Dan Louche when he started building his first tiny house, a house for his mom. Since then Dan has been very busy building homes, designing house plans, filming how-to videos, and writing a construction guide. His tiny house business is now one of the most evolved and offers some of the best learning materials for owner-builders.Boat House or House Boat? Futuristic Home on the WaterMost houseboats seem to be designed with one of two primary purposes in mind: they are either constructed as accommodations for semi-permanent living (more house than boat) or they are made to be mobile (more boat than house). This unique but yet unbuilt idea balances both sides, possibly better than anything else built to date. The outer spiraling shell structure provides stability and mobility, guarding and moving the home within. The form, spatial layouts and spacious accommodations all suggest a home on the water at the center of this design – a box-like structure with amble amenities to be quite comfortably livable. Traveling below the surface, one finds a gathering space – an underwater observatory that would make a wonderful space to stay in during the day while idling or traveling.

Sheila Blake: shedworkerArtist Sheila Blake works in this marvellous copper-sided garden office built on a sloping piece of ground in Takoma Park designed by Travis Price Architects. The entrance faces away from the main house and the whole thing rests on exposed concrete pillars. Large windows and skylights allow plenty of light into the space. The build is featured in Neal Zimmerman's excellent Home Workspace Idea Book where he likens it to a floating boat moored at a wharfMicrohouseNWMicrohouse - Affordable small house design At microhouse we specialize in the design and permitting of backyard cottages and other small houses. Because we are specialists we are able to offer design services at affordable rates. To this end, we utilize standard designs as a starting point for design and budgeting.

Sustainable Living and Tiny House Resources - Treading TINYI’ll sprinkle great sources of self-sufficient living, good clean food, and sustainable housing info all over this page. Stay tuned. TinyHouseBlog.com TinyHouseDesign.com theTinyLife.com The go-to virtual spot to buy,sell, and rent tiny homes: tinyhouselistings.comContainer Housing CompaniesOne option if you want a container home is to buy a prefabricated unit from a container housing company. Why consider one of these outfits? They are worth considering if: you don't have enough time for such a big project; you don't have the necessary skills to build a cargo container building yourself; you want something more complex, designed by an architect, with many rooms and floors, contemporary finishes and interiors, modern and clean lines and maximum comfort. There are many finished and under construction projects all around the world that make use of containers for different purposes.

Finnish forestworkingNot technically a garden office but still a lovely example of microarchitecture, this is a lovely shedlike atmosphere in Finland where you can sleep and cook too, as well as do a little light shedworking. Designed by Verstas Architects (where there are lots more lovely photos) who call it a "modern interpretation of the summer huts on the shores of Helsinki". Photographs by Andreas Meichsner. Via dornob ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Thursday posts are sponsored by Atelier garden studios which are sustainable, stylish, flexible, functional and future proofedTiny House Talkon July 25, 2011 The same Indian company that has produced the world’s cheapest car has announced its latest product which is a flat-pack tiny house that costs about $700. It can be assembled in a week and is said to be 215 square feet. It’s a pre-fabricated kit with doors, windows and a roof.

Small House Society“Better Living Through Simplicity.” History. Founded in 2002, the Small House Society is a cooperatively managed organization dedicated to the promotion of smaller housing alternatives which can be more affordable and ecological. Mission. Our desire is to support the research, development, and use of smaller living spaces that foster sustainable living for individuals, families, and communities worldwide.

containerbayThere is growing interest in the use of shipping containers as the basis for habitable structures. These "icons of globalization" are relatively inexpensive, structurally sound and in abundant supply. Although, in raw form, containers are dark windowless boxes (which might place them at odds with some of the tenets of modernist design...) they can be highly customizable modular elements of a larger structure. The projects below are sorted alphabetically (by company or designer's name).A Garden Shed/Office/Cabin made from OLD TIRES!Ugly as sin- but pretty clever n' cool..... I don't think this will be giving Michael Reynolds and his Earthships a run for their money, but its a really great little concept. First, thanks to Alex Johnson over at www.SHEDWORKING.co.uk for a really cool review/write-up on my book "Humble Homes, Simple Shacks"- it was also recently in the NY Times, and the Wall Street Journal!